Description helps readers visualize what is happening in a story. Notice the vivid description in this passage from "An Astrologer's Day": "The astrologer caught a glimpse of [the stranger's] face by the matchlight. There was a pause as cars hooted on the road, jutka drivers swore at their horses and the babble of the crowd agitated the semidarkness of the park." Descriptive language can help bring a character to life. Description also can help build suspense or provide dues about what might. happen next.

What details and techniques does Narayan use to describe the astrologer?

Authors frequently use flashback to help readers understand a character's current attitude and behavior. It gives the reader more information than would be gained from simply watching the events of the story unfold. In a movie, a flashback is often easier to identify, because characters are dressed differently, are younger, or are in different places. In literature, the reader must rely on elements in the story for clues, such as a change of scene or someone talking who is not present before the flashback begins. Flashback allows a writer to explain the past in a dramatic, creative fashion.

Explain how the flashback makes the outcome of the story ironic.

(a)What does Juan fear will happen to Mariana as a result of his letter? (b)What does this tell you about the kind of government Juan lives under?

(a)Why did Jonathan mistrust the officer who wanted to take his bicycle? (b)What does this tell you about the situation in Nigeria?

(a)Summarize what happens at the Prothero home on Christmas Eve. (b)How does the narrator seem to feel about this event and about the Protheros? Use words from the passage to help explain.

"Tuesday Siesta" has an implied theme. Garcla Márquez offers many hints about the theme in the setting, plot events, dialogue, and actions. What specific inferences can you draw about this theme due to:

details in the plot events;

When authors do not tell their stories chronologically, the reader must pay close attention in order to determine the actual sequence of events and the cause and-effect relationships of those events to one another.

How would the impact of the story change if events were ordered differently?

a)What are Azucena's circumstances at the beginning of the story? (b)What did she come to symbolize as the story progressed?

(a)What decision do the Allisons make at the beginning of the story? Why? (b) How do they expect to spend autumn as a result of their decision?

A third-person omniscient narrator can give us insight into all characters in a story by revealing and interpreting their deepest thoughts and feelings. The omniscient narrator is usually objective and is therefore more reliable than a first-person narrator, who may be prone to misjudge or allow emotion to cloud his or her perception of events.

How did Lessing's use of the third-person omniscient point of view in this story make its telling more effective?

Although the ending of the story "The Californian's Tale" proves to be a surprise for most readers, Twain uses foreshadowing to hint at the ending. Foreshadowing can be conveyed by mood or mood shifts, by details of the setting or the characters that are strange or jarring, or by plot events that serve as clues as to how the story will be resolved.

Which plot events help foreshadow the ending of the story? Explain how each event hints at this ending.

Allende uses sensory details to make the setting and characters more vivid and to evoke a strong emotional reaction in the reader. Refer to the chart of sensory.

Skim the story for more sensory details to add to your chart. Try to add at least one more to each row. Explain why you think each one evokes an emotional reaction.

The cultural details that relate to setting, characters, and plot in "An Astrologer's Day" add authenticity to the story and make the characters and events believable.

The astrologer attracts many customers who are pleased and astonished by what he tells them. What does this tell you about the people of the town?

In literature, a character's motivation is not always perfectly clear. At times, a character's motivation may be weak or mixed, making it difficult to discern or understand. Think about the characters in "Two Kinds." Was it easy or difficult to determine the motivation for their actions?

Jing-mei decides to thwart her mother's "foolish pride," but she does prepare for the talent show, induding practicing her fancy curtsy. Why do you think she does this?